2008 Woodie Awards
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Clint Eastwood brings us spectacular 'Letters From Iwo Jima'
Kirk Juhasz
Issue date: 1/31/07 Section: Entertainment
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This one is filmed from the Japanese point of view which seems to be far more tragic and interesting. For the first time an American production team has captured one of the biggest battles in WWII from the perspective of the enemy, the Japanese. And the result of this is brilliance.
Director Clint Eastwood uses delicacy and care throughout his film to bring us realism and the true meaning of war. This is far better than the bloated "Flags of Our Fathers" as this one brings something new to the WWII genre.
True, this movie is about the momentous battle that started the invasion of Japan, but it is about so much more in addition to that. It is about the soldiers and how they really feel about the ensuing war.
"Letters From Iwo Jima" mostly revolves around one soldier, Saigo (Kazunari Ninomiya), who is a young soldier and wants nothing more than to make it home and see his wife and new born baby.
It also revolves around General Kuribayashi (Ken Watanabe), who takes command of the island before the Americans get set to invade. He changes just about all of the defensive plans, and in doing so loses the respect of all his fellow officers, or almost all the fellow officers.
They do not believe in his tactics or decisions, just as none of the other soldiers have the same beliefs or thoughts as Saigo. Saigo and Kuribayashi are in the same boat just at different sides of command.
As the movie goes on and the war goes on they miraculously find each other and understand exactly what is going on. They both try to make it out of the war alive, and without their homeland being invaded.
The brilliance of this film is how it all comes together in the end. We know that America eventually takes over the island but the ending is more than that. It is about how the proud Japanese people lose the island, and the tragic way they deal with it.
Now let me tell you about the acting and how this year's Oscar has made a vital error in choosing their nominations. There should be a string of acting and supporting acting nominations for this movie, but as it turns out there is not a single one for acting.